Alexa Rank

Introduction

One of the unfortunate facts of life is that the older you get, the less effective your body becomes. Activities that seemed simple when you were in your 20’s, such as hitting the gym for an intense workout or going for a high powered run, become a lot more difficult when you hit your 60’s. As a result, it becomes tempting to give up on exercise altogether once you reach this age.

However, exercising as you age is very important. Regular exercise has a long list of health benefits, many of which are even more beneficial to seniors. The list below outlines just some of the many senior specific health benefits of regular exercise:

Regular exercise boosts your brain and helps to protect against a range of age related mental disorders including Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, depression and Parkinson’s disease.

Regular exercise boosts your eyes and helps to protect against a range of age related vision disorders such as cataracts and glaucoma.

Regular exercise boosts your heart and cardiovascular system which helps protect against heart disease, high blood pressure and stroke.

Regular exercise improves your balance which helps protect you from falls and the related injuries.

Regular exercise improves your muscular strength and mobility which enhances your quality of life and allows you to perform daily tasks without assistance.

Regular exercise protects against a range of chronic disease including cancer and diabetes.

Instead of giving up on exercise as you age, you just need to adapt your exercise routine. While lung busting 10 mile runs or lifting huge weights at the gym may no longer be a possibility, there are still plenty of low impact exercises you can try.

In this post I am going to help you adapt your routine by providing you with 25 low impact exercises for seniors. Each one of these exercises is gentle enough for you to perform without injury, but when performed regularly, will do wonders for your health.

As with all exercise programs, make sure you start slowly when doing these low impact exercises for the first time and then work up to a comfortable but challenging pace. Although they have been specifically chosen because they are low impact, injury is still a possibility if you don’t perform them correctly. Starting off slow, learning the form and then increasing the pace is a much better option than starting too fast, injuring yourself and then having to go a few weeks without exercise.

Emotional eating is a very real problem in the world today. If not addressed in the early stages, it can lead to much more serious eating disorders such as binge-eating disorder or night-eating syndrome. In most cases one will need professional help to overcome these disorders.

Emotional eating, however, is still manageable because we can nip this problem in the bud before it grows roots and takes over your life. This article will show you the common triggers which cause this problem to rear its ugly head and what you can do to eliminate them.

It’s imperative that you not be sluggish in your approach or assume that the problem will go away on its own. Most people do not even realize that they are emotional eaters because the problem doesn’t have visible consequences until much later… and that’s what makes it so insidious.

A lack of control over your diet not only affects you mentally but physically too. Millions of Americans and people all over the world suffer from emotional overeating.

Obesity has reached epidemic proportions. Type 2 diabetes statistics have skyrocketed. More people than ever are suffering from health issues such as high cholesterol, blood pressure problems, inflammation and many other issues that are caused by our poor diet choices these days.

There is no denying the fact that the Standard American Diet appropriately abbreviated as SAD is high in calories, preservatives and additives but low in nutrition. The high fructose corn syrup that’s present in so many foods nowadays has made people addicted to food. It all tastes so good… and people can’t get enough of these foods.

Now more than ever, one needs to be aware of what he or she is eating. Food MUST be treated as fuel and not therapy. People have forgotten that one should eat to fill their stomach and not their heart. This is the leading cause of emotional eating. People eat when they’re not hungry. Herein lies the problem… and let’s see why this happens.

1. Boredom

Boredom is one of the causes of emotional eating. Sitting in front of the TV for hours watching mindless reality shows while chomping down on chips, cookies and cakes has become the norm for so many folks these days.

There is a void in their life. A certain sense of emptiness that they try to fill up with food. They eat because of the temporary ‘high’ that the food gives them… but these elevated feelings drop fast and they eat again and again and again just to feel happy and reach some level satiation.

It’s very sad if you stopped to think about it but it’s the hard truth. The best way to overcome this cause will be to change your life around. You’ll need to find new and exciting things to do. It’s the monotony that’s killing you.

It could be a new hobby like gardening or rock climbing or something that makes you feel happy. It will take tremendous effort to push past the inertia and actually do something different in your life, but once you start and get the ball rolling, momentum will take over and you’ll feel much happier and fulfilled.

You’ll slowly become less dependent on food to make you happy because your life has some sense of purpose. Eradicate the monotony and boredom in your life and your emotional eating will be mitigated.

2. Stress

Stress is the leading cause of most health problems in the world today. No matter how you look at it, a stressful lifestyle either directly or indirectly affects your health. We live in a pressure cooker society these days.

Everybody wants everything fast. Microwaves, instant text messaging, miracle diet pills… and so many other contraptions just to get fast results. People also expect financial success, relationships made in heaven without any work and a body of a Greek God in 2 weeks. All these expectations of speed and efficiency creates a very hectic lifestyle that moves along at breakneck speed.

Most people think that they can handle it, but what they don’t realize is that even if you win the rat race, you’re still a rat. A stressed out rat that eats whatever it can find.

All levity aside, the truth is that when you lead a stressful life, you’ll feel emotionally drained or empty. You’ll just be a cog in the machine that keeps spinning or pumping away but your life seems to have lost meaning.

It gets worse when dreams take a long time to become a reality. It takes time to get a body that turns heads. It takes time to build a business that makes you financially independent… and it takes a lifetime of work to keep a relationship or marriage healthy.

Millions of people suffer from depression, sadness and many other negative emotions because of this. They want fast results and they want them now. How do they cope when life doesn’t move at their pace? They fret, curse and stress themselves out.

Men may turn to alcohol, sex or food. Women usually turn to food. Eating has become a mechanism for them to manage the stress.

If you eat when you’re not hungry, it’s emotional eating. If you’re already full but you’re still reaching for a bag of cookies, it’s emotional eating. If you’re constantly going to the fridge or you aimlessly walk around the supermarket dumping junk food in your basket to eat at home later, you are an emotional eater.

While it’s perfectly fine to indulge in the occasional dessert or a glass of wine, emotional eaters do this daily and they do it all the time. Their lives revolve around food and they eat mindlessly. There is a total lack of awareness. This is a sign of emotional overeating.

If you’re just following the motions and you don’t even realize just how much food is going into your mouth, you’re overeating. You’re either stressed out or compensating for some other feelings.

The first step to overcoming this cause is awareness. You must always stop yourself before you eat and ask, “Am I hungry?”

If the answer is no, dump the food. You do not need it. Now you need to examine your life. You’ll have to be brutally honest in your self-reflection. Are you unhappy with your job? Or are you in a marriage that has lost its luster? Maybe you’re unemployed and feel worthless?

Whatever the case may be, there will be underlying causes. You need to address these ASAP. If your job is stressing you out, you’ll need to take steps to relieve the stress with techniques such as meditation or sports or something that works for you. Food is NOT the answer.

If you’re exhausted after a day’s work, go to bed early and wake up refreshed. Don’t vegetate in front of the TV and gobble up whatever you find. The sleep will work wonders but the food will make you wonder why nothing works in your life.

Depression caused by stress can often be relieved by talking to someone or you could see a doctor and maybe medication might help you feel better. There’s no shame here and in fact, medication to treat depression is much less harmful than gorging on food constantly to feel better.

3. Old habits

Old habits die hard. That definitely applies here. If you grew up in a household where your family was eating all the time without giving much thought to what was being eaten, chances are that you’d do the same.

Or you might be an extrovert who hangs out with friends all the time and if you’re not drinking like a fish, you’re eating junk food such as pizzas and greasy burgers. Over time, you get addicted to these foods and constantly get cravings for them. You indulge at every given chance and eat them even if you’re not hungry.

The food makes you feel happy and good. This is emotional eating no matter how you look at it.

You can only overcome this by being mindful and slowly taking steps to break this habit. You may need to stop hanging out with friends for a while because the situations you are in just make it too tempting to resist the food and drinks.

Try out new healthier activities to take up the slack. You don’t want boredom to set it… and if you’ve been following this article, you should know why.

Start with a food journal and see just how much you’re eating. Then, slowly try and cut down your food consumption in stages. Try not to go cold turkey all at once.

This will just make it more stressful and you might find yourself binge eating at night. This also applies to people who keep trying out aggressive diets to lose weight. In most cases they don’t work.

You’ll find it a struggle to maintain the diet and you’re bound to slip up now and then… and when you do, you’ll binge eat whatever you’ve been depriving yourself of. You’ll then feel guilty and end up throwing the diet aside and getting back to your old eating habits.

The key to succeeding with weight loss is to approach it in a slow and controlled manner that is progressive in nature. By just cutting calories slowly, you’ll see weight loss and not have to deal with binging and other eating issues. That’s the best way to go about it.

Discerning between Real Hunger and Emotional Hunger

Most causes of emotional eating will fall under one of the 3 categories above. There may be some that don’t, but no matter what, the best way to treat emotional eating is to be mindful of your eating. Like the saying goes, “Eat to live and not live to eat.”

You must be able to tell when you’re actually hungry. Real hunger usually makes your stomach growl. If you find yourself reaching for food when you’re not hungry, you’ll need to ask yourself why you’re doing it. Are you bored? Is this a habit or mechanism to self-soothe? Will eating the food make you feel better?

If the answer is yes to any of these questions, you need to stop and go do something else instead of eating. You must actively break the habit. You need to learn how to comfort yourself without comfort foods.

When you go grocery shopping, do NOT purchase foods that you know you should not be eating. Cookies, ice cream, cakes, chips and all the other pleasure foods should be avoided. You do not want these foods lying around the house constantly calling out your name and tempting you.

You could buy a small box of cookies or a small tub of ice cream just to make it easier on yourself… but just one item. So, even if you give in to temptation and raid the fridge, you only have one item that you’ll feel like eating. The damage won’t be that bad.

If it’s not in the refrigerator, you’ll not eat it and probably go do something else like read or sleep. It may seem extreme to do this but this is a problem that requires extreme measures.

After just two weeks of mindful eating, you’ll notice that your weight is dropping and you’re more aware of what you eat. You’ll be more in tune with how you feel and realize that you’ve been medicating with food.

From here on, things will get better. You’ll stop rewarding yourself with food like you’re a pet. Instead, food will be for fuel and sustenance and you’ll make better eating choices.

You’ll start looking and feeling better. Always remember that whatever your problem may be, the answer is not in the fridge. As long you keep that in mind and act accordingly, you will overcome emotional eating.

How To Easily Clean Your Dog’s Ear

Maintaining a dog is quite tough. It is a challenge to us fur parents, to maintain the cleanliness and health of our lovable dogs. We should give them time, patience, understanding and utmost care. Having a pet dog is such a big responsibility. It is like having your own baby. Hygiene plays a vital role in making our dogs healthy. That includes trimming their hairs or grooming, cutting their nails and even cleaning their ears.

The unclean ear would lead to several complications, and can serve as reservoir for bacteria and other harmful elements that can compromise the health of your dog. It is advisable to have our dog’s ear cleaned every week or every two weeks. We can ask a groomer or a professional to do this, but we can also do it. It requires a lot of patience initially, but once your dog gets the hang of it, this will definitely be a breeze. Just follow the instructions carefully to achieve the perfect dog and fur parent bonding activity! Let us begin!

Step 1: Prepare all the materials needed for this tutorial:

10% strength Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2)

soft tissue paper

tweezers

Step 2: Make sure that your dog already took a bath before performing this cleaning method. Use a good bath towel so that your dog is perfectly dry.

Step 3: Take a piece of tissue paper and roll it to form a compact tissue.

Step 5: Wipe the external part of the ear including the big flap of it.

Step 6: Roll another piece of tissue paper and put the same amount of hydrogen peroxide on it but this time carefully insert it in the hole of the dog’s ear. Make sure to be careful in doing this to avoid trauma on the part of the dog. Carefully swirl the tissue roll on the ear hole for about two to three times before pulling the tissue out of the ear hole. It is normal to see a yellow discharge from the dog’s ear. This is your dog’s earwax building up inside. Your dog’s ear hole at approximately 1 to 2 centimeters deep, and you should not go into further since we are just cleaning the external part of the ear. Take note that this figure is applicable for small or toy dogs only. Bigger dogs have bigger and longer ear holes.

Step 7: Take the tweezers and hold it like this. The tweezers will be used to remove excess hairs on the ear hole (external part only). Excessive ear hair would cause ear infection to most dogs, so make sure to remove it from time to time. It takes a lot of patience and practice in the part of the dog owner and the dog as well especially if it’s the first experience of the dog.

Step 8: Carefully remove the ear hairs from the dog’s ear. Be careful and make sure that your hand is light enough to perform this to make a positive experience on the part of the dog.

Step 9: Clean the other ear as well doing the same method used in the first ear.

Step 10: Carefully perform the ear hair removal on the other ear. Make sure to give treats at the end of the ear cleaning session so that your dog will not resist the next time and they will know that it is good to have their ears cleaned every now and then.

You can also use baby cotton buds in cleaning your dog’s ear, but this is not advisable if you have problems in controlling your hand pressure. Using the tissue is the best alternative if you are just a beginner. Make sure that the dog is comfortable with his or her position and most of all, always reward your dog if they cooperated in this cleaning session.

Home Remedies to Effectively Remove Dog Tear Stain

Tear staining is common among dogs (and cats) that are light-colored. Tear stains are due to the fact that the dog or the cat produces excessive amounts of tears. There are certain breeds that extensively produce tears, which includes Lhasa Apso, Poodle, Maltese and Shih Tzu. Tear stains can also mean that the dog has a serious eye health problem that needs to be taken care of.

If you have already consulted a professional and are 100% sure that your dog is just suffering from excessive tear production, then this easy pet hack tutorial is for you! This tutorial will present four methods that you can easily follow to keep your dog’s eyes clean and avoid those annoying tear stains.

METHOD 1: Drinking Water Method

Step 1: Get at least ½ to 1 ml. apple cider vinegar using a dropper or a syringe. To get accurate measurements, it is better to use a syringe.

Step 2: Put a considerable amount of purified water on the dog’s drinking plate or drinking bottle and drop the apple cider vinegar in it. Make sure to stir the mixture well to make it homogenized.

Step 3: Give the water to your dog when they have tear stains.

METHOD 2: Clipper Method

Removing the hair below the eyes of your dog can help eliminate tear stains. This is just a temporary solution and you must do this every other week to achieve the best results.

Step 1: Let your dog rest in your lap. Make sure that they are comfortable enough to rest there. Massage their head and ears every now and then to make them comfortable.

Step 2: Hold the pet clipper properly to avoid accidents.

Step 3: Shave the stained hairs around the lower eyes of your dog. Take note that the direction of the clipper should be towards the nose of the dog and not the other way around. This will avoid the dog from being harmed while doing this. Make sure to hold the dog’s head properly so that they will not make any unnecessary movements which could lead to accidents.

METHOD 3: Hydrogen Peroxide Method

The hydrogen peroxide will help remove the stains on the eyes of the dog. You need to clean your dog’s eyes properly before performing this method.

Step 1: Drop a considerable amount of 10% or 20% hydrogen peroxide on a cotton ball. It should be well-soaked but not dripping wet.

Step 2: Carefully wipe the stained part of your dog’s eyes. Continue wiping until the stains are removed.

METHOD 4: Hiding Method

This hiding method is just a temporary solution to hide the stains away. If you are attending an event together with your dog and you want to hide the stains, this is a fast and effective solution.

Step 1: Wet the cotton ball in a glass of purified water. It should not be dripping wet but must be wet enough to wipe clean the eyes of your dog.

Step 2: With a gentle hand, clean the stained part of the dogs eyes using the wet cotton. Let it dry for a minute.

Step 3: Get a pinch of baby powder on your index finger.

Step 4: Carefully apply the baby powder on top of the stains on the bottom part of the eyes. Do the same for both eyes.

After Removing The Tear Stains

After using any of the above remedies, it is good to end the whole session with a reward for your dog such as beef jerkie or some other treat. This will provide positive reinforcement and make future sessions easier.

While it is safe to say the tear stains just cause minor annoyance to us and other people, it is still better to consult a professional veterinarian to make sure that your dog is safe and sound. It is always better to have a piece of advice from your veterinarian before you rule out the possibility that your dog is just experiencing excessive tear production. It is better to be safe than sorry!

How To Easily Clean Your Dog’s Feet And Cut Their Nails

Dog grooming is normally handled by professionals. It takes a lot of patience to groom dogs since they need to be comfortable while you are grooming them, you must also know how to adjust based on their preferred position. Cleaning the paw and cutting the excess hairs around it, plus cutting the nails are part of the usual grooming routine. At times when we don’t have enough money to keep our pooches well-groomed, we tend to let their hairs and nails grow, which is not a good for them hygienically speaking.

Today, we will prove to you that you can clean your dog’s feet and cut their nails easily. Don’t feel bad if you don’t get it right the first time. Always remember that your dog would definitely prefer you over the groomer since you are their master. So let us begin this tutorial!

Step 1: Gather all the materials needed:

pet clipper/pet razor

a pair of haircutting scissor

slicker brush

plier-style nail cutter

Step 2: Put your pet dog in a comfortable position on top of a plain grooming table.

Step 3: Brush the hair on the dog’s legs all the way down to the feet using a slick brush. This will remove unwanted mats on the dog’s coat.

Step 4: Brush the hair of the legs towards the tip of the nails of the dog. This will determine how long we will cut or groom the feet of the dog.

Step 5: Razor the hair of the dog’s foot. This should be done from the tip all the way up to the desired level or just below the joint of the dog’s leg.

Step 6: Cut the unreachable hairs on each of the dog’s claw.

Step 7: Slightly put some pressure on the paws so that the claws would pop-out and the unwanted hair can be removed by cutting.

Step 8: Brush the trimmed leg towards the tip of the nails.

Step 9: Hold the brushed hairs on the trimmed leg.

Step 10: Cut the excess hairs to form a straight cut for a cleaner look.

Step 11: Carefully cut the nails on each claw. Make sure to observe the proper length to be cut since it is not advisable to cut the nails of the dog in full length since this might cause bleeding if not properly performed.

Step 12: Perform the same steps on the next front foot of the dog.

Step 13: Do the same trimming and cutting of nails at the back legs. Make sure that the dog is still comfortable in their position. You must be flexible enough to adjust your position rather than the dog adjusting to you.

Step 14: Tada! You now have clean feet and properly cut nails on your pampered pooch!

You can do this every month or twice a month. This dog maintenance should be done especially for dogs who love to walk or run outdoors in bare feet. Or if your dog is wearing dog shoes, it is proper to maintain their nails in a certain length to avoid discomfort whenever they use them. Hope this saves you an extra penny and at the same time helps you bond with your furry pal!

How To Create a Festive Rope Wrapped Easter Basket

Easter egg hunting is a fun-filled activity for kids. Eggs if various kinds are hidden in different ambiguous locations. As part of the yearly tradition, the kids normally bring a basket, in which the child can carry the eggs that he or she can gather. Easter baskets come in handy as soon as the game starts. In this tutorial, we will be making a fun and easy rope wrapped Easter basket for your kids! Let’s begin making one!

Step 1: Prepare all the materials needed for this tutorial:

medium plastic container

thin plastic rope

hot glue

newspapers

yellow paint

paint brush

scissors

blue tape

plastic eggs

Step 2: Hot glue the end of the plastic rope on the extreme lower body of the plastic container

Step 3: Wrap the plastic rope around the plastic container. Continue gluing every 3 to 5 centimeters on the first row of the plastic rope. This will secure the rope from moving unexpectedly on the container body.

Step 4: Continue wrapping the container with the rope upwards. Make sure that you don’t leave any spaces in between.

Step 5: Once the end of the rope is reached and you are satisfied with the height of the rope, hot glue the end of it on the container body.

Step 6: Cut three strips of newspaper. This will be the handle of the Easter basket later.

Step 7: Twine each of the strips firmly.

Step 8: Align the three twined newspapers and tape one end of it firmly.

Step 9: Tightly braid the three twined newspapers together.

Step 10: Tape the end one you are done braiding it.

Step 11: Cover the working table with a newspaper spreadsheet.

Step 12: Paint the braided newspaper. Double coat it if you are not satisfied with the results.

You are now ready for Easter egg hunting with your handy rope wrapped Easter basket. You can have this together with your friends and family. This is easy to make and a very reliable basket, as well. Hope you make one before the egg hunting begins! Enjoy!

How To Create a Native Easter Leaf Basket

An Easter basket comes in handy every Easter season. These are used to accommodate the Easter eggs that we have accumulated or better yet, serve as a home decor during the season. Baskets are made from a variety of materials; this could be made from plastic, paper, or even leaves. Today, we will be creating a native, but sturdy Easter leaf basket. So let us begin making one now!

Step 1: Gather all the materials needed:

palm leaves or coconut leaves

5-cm. thick segmented ribbon

5-cm. thick red satin ribbon

hot glue

small utility knife

scissors

Step 2: Carefully remove the midrib of the palm or coconut leaf.

Step 3: Cut the unwanted ends of the leaf. Each leaf should be at least 1.5 to 2 feet in length.

Step 4: Cross two leaves in their midsection.

Step 5: Put another leaf horizontally parallel the first one but the orientation should be alternate when crossing the vertical leaf.

Step 6: Add another parallel leaf horizontally. Alternately cross this third leaf to the vertical one.

Step 7: Keep on doing until you achieve the desired size of the basket base. Make sure to adjust the leaves side-by-side to assure that the spacing is properly done. You now have a woven basket base.

Step 8: Seal the ends of the woven basket base using hot glue.

Step 9: Fold the four sides of the woven base to form a corner for the basket. After which, alternately weave each strand around the basket itself.

Step 10: Cut the excess leaves on top of the basket. The height of the basket would depend on your liking.

Step 11: Fold the sides of the basket to make the form of it more prominent. Insert the ends of each leaf on the next parallel leaf beside it. This will seal the top part of the basket. Set aside for a while.

Step 12: Fold the segmented ribbon towards the middle section of it. Seal it using hot glue. The size and the length of the ribbon would vary and would solely depend on your liking.

Step 13: Cut a small strip from the segmented ribbon and tie this on the middle forming a small triangular loop. This will hold the segmented bow later on.

Step 14: Wrap the small strip with triangular loop over the pinched midsection of the segmented ribbon to form a bow. To secure the bow’s form, hot glue it.

Step 15: Cut the red satin ribbon based on the length of the segmented bow.

Step 16: Fold and glue the satin ribbon on the middle part of it.

Step 17: Stick the segmented bow on the middle part of the red satin bow.

Step 18: Pinch the sides of the red ribbon which is parallel to the segmented bow. Hot glue this part to secure it permanently. You now have a double bow.

Step 19: Hot glue the double bow on the upper part of the basket.

Step 20: Done! Time to place all the Easter eggs in the leaf basket!

The common alternative for the coconut leaves that was used in this tutorial is a palm leaf. You can use other leaves as long as the veins of it are parallel or generally looks like a strip-leaf. You can also make a basket using the dried version of the leaves, but this will make the leaves more fragile, as compared to the greens. Further decorations can be made in the Easter basket, as long as you have the creative mind to do it. Hope you like this! Enjoy!

How To Make a Cute Bunny Goodie Bag

During Easter season, events are being held everywhere to celebrate the glorious event. Kids, at the same time, accumulate candies, chocolate, small toys, eggs, etc. They now need a small pouch to accommodate everything. Goodie bags are perfect buddies for the said occasion. They can also be given with special treats inside during the party. The kids would love this since this pouch is bunny-shaped. If you want a good party idea, try this one!

Step 1: Gather all the materials needed:

3 pieces craft felt (yellow, purple and pink)

crochet thread

big sewing needle

scissors

hot glue

chocolate treats

Step 2: Cut the purple craft felt into two equal lengths. This will be the body of the goodie bag.

Step 3: Curve the bottom part of the rectangular felt. Do this for both.

Step 4: Starting from the middle side of the rectangular felt, sew the two felts together to form a pouch. Follow the U-direction in sewing the pouch and leave the half, topmost part of it.

Step 5: Cut a pair of bunny ears from the pink craft felt.

Step 6: Place the pink bunny ears on top of the unsewn, topmost part of the pouch. Sew the bunny ears on the front purple layer using a running stitch.

Step 7: Cut the purple felt in between the ears. Do this for both purple felt layers.

Step 8: Double thread the needle and loop the end of it. This will serve as the main thread that closes the goodie bag.

Step 9: Run a big running stitch just below the rabbit ears or above the blanket sewn pouch. Do this on the upper purple layer first.

Step 10: Do the same thing on the back of the pouch. Take note that before making a big running stitch on the back, leave a considerable length of thread on the end sides of the pouch.

Step 11: Form a loop on the end of the excess sides of the thread.

Step 12: Do the loop on the other side of the thread, as well. This should look like this.

Step 13: Cut the eyes and the mouth from the yellow craft felt and cut the eyeballs, nose and front teeth from the pink craft felt. Hot glue the facial features of the rabbit.

Step 14: Place all your chocolate treats on the goodie bag

Step 15: Pull the side threads to close the bunny pouch and you are now good to go.

The kids will surely love this cute bunny goodie bag filled with yummy treats. You can place different treats inside, it can be chocolates, gummy bears, lollipops, etc. You can make several bunny pouches and give this as gifts on Easter day. Hope you like it!

How To Make a Colorful Paper Mache Easter Eggs

Easters eggs are commonly seen during the season of Eastertide. These eggs symbolize rebirth and fertility. During the Easter season, Easter egg hunting is said to be the most popular game. Different kinds of eggs are being used, and paper mache eggs are one of them. These eggs help your imagination wander. This maybe a time consuming activity, but this will produce perfectly cute results. Let us begin making Easter eggs!

Step 1: Prepare all the materials needed for this tutorial:

newspapers

white glue

bowl

water

paint brushes

acrylic paints

cutter

plastic egg

a pair of scissors

Step 2: Pour a considerable amount of white glue on the bowl.

Step 3: Pour water on the bowl. The ratio of white glue to water should be 3:2.

Step 4: Stir the mixture until homogenized.

Step 5: Cut small strips of newspaper and put it on the glue mixture.

Step 6: Completely submerge the newspaper strips on the mixture for a better mache mixture.

Step 7: Completely cover the plastic eggs with the glued paper strips. Continue doing this until you achieve the thickness of the mache layers.

Step 8: Let the eggs dry for a day or two. Observe that the eggs will be as hard as the rock once you complete the drying process

Step 9: Using a cutter, carefully cut the mid section of the egg.

Step 10: Remove the egg mache on the egg plastic.

Step 11: Cut a long strip of newspaper and use this to seal the egg mache together. Use white glue for this. Smoothen out the sides of the new strip, so that the sealer strip wouldn’t be obvious. Let it dry for 5 to 6 hours.

Step 12: Paint the eggs. Do a double coating for better results.

Step 13: Paint various designs on the egg. This would depend on your preferred designs.

Step 14: Finally done! You now have a paper mache Easter egg!

The colorful paper mache Easter eggs can be used as decoration, or as part of the Easter egg hunting game. You can also put some treats inside (e.g. small chocolates or gummy bears), that will surely make these eggs more inviting to kids. The creativity of the kids is also challenged in this activity, since they get to put some designs on the egg after. So what are you waiting for? Start this fun-filled activity now!

Potted flowers can be real or synthetic. Synthetic flowers are often made from plastic materials. Most of the people prefer synthetic flowers since it requires less from them – less maintenance, in short. These synthetic flower plants can also be made using pipe cleaners and to make this activity more interesting, we will use a plastic egg as a pot for the flower plants. We will be making cute miniature potted flowers to match the Easter occasion. Let’s begin!

Step 1: Gather all the materials needed:

a block of styrofoam

2 pieces plastic eggs

small egg carton

2 pairs of googly eyes

blue acrylic paint

Sharpie or black permanent marker

cutter or X-acto knife

scissors

pipe cleaners of different colors

hot glue

paint brush

Step 2: Paint the egg carton but apply a semi finish to create a marbled effect.

Step 3: Mark the Styrofoam using the half of the plastic egg.

Step 4: Cut the Styrofoam based on the egg mark.

Step 5: Using the pointed part of the eggs, glue the Styrofoam inside. Disregard the bottom part of the eggs.

Step 6: Hot glue a pair of eyes on the top most part, near the edge of the plastic egg.

Step 7: Draw a smiling lips just below the eyes of the egg.

Step 8: Hot glue the plastic eggs on the wells of the egg carton. This will permanently fix the eggs on the carton, thus, preventing further movements later on.

Step 9: Make random shapes of flowers from the red, pink, yellow and purple pipe cleaners. You can use the tip of the paint brush if you want to form perfect circles from it.

Step 10: Insert the stem in the middle of the flower. You can use green or brown pipe cleaners for this.

Step 11: Make small leaves and twist it in the stem of the flower. You get to decide how many leaves per flower will be made.

Step 12: Insert the flower plants on the styrofoam. Arrange them properly and make sure that every flower has its own window placement on each plastic egg.

Step 13: Tada! You now have an adorable Easter egg potted flowers ready for display!

This Easter egg potted flowers can be given as gifts during the season. This can also be displayed on your tabletop or even on your own office desk. You can make more flowers using more plastic eggs. This is a good activity for kids also. They get to explore their creativity in forming the flowers out of the pipe cleaners, at the same time, they had fun making it. Hope you like it! Enjoy!